How Health Care Practitioners Can Help Make Schools Safer
In order to help make schools safer, health care professionals can:
- Educate parents and other caregivers on healthy socio-emotional development in children and youth, and teach them methods for strengthening their children’s development.
- Counsel parents and other caregivers on risk factors associated with violence and strategies for reducing risk, including: counseling on the risks associated with firearms and safe storage procedures; the impact of media violence on youth and methods for reducing exposure; and the effects of observing violence in the home and community; and methods for modeling non-violent solutions to conflict.
- Screen for and identify risk factors for violence among young patients. Collect a violence history that addresses exposure to violence; safety/security issues; effects of trauma; attitudes toward weapon carrying, aggression, and fighting; and stressors in the family and community.
- Work with school officials, law enforcement, social services, community organizations and the local health department to develop and implement school violence prevention and response plans.
- Provide in-service training for school staff on risk and protective factors for youth violence and effective violence prevention and intervention strategies.
- Volunteer to serve local schools as epidemiologists, health care providers, and crisis team members.
- Establish a network of referral services to make it easier for school personnel to help youth and their parents or caregivers to access resources.
- Advocate for and support the development and implementation of community-wide youth violence prevention efforts.